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French VC Has Raised the Largest Green Biotech Fund in Europe
March 3, 2017 | LabioTech
The largest biotech VC in France, Sofinnova Partners, is banking on the emerging sector of bio-based, sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. Its new fund of €106M will be invested in 8 to 10 companies over the next 3 to 4 years, especially in startups developing green technology for the transformation of raw materials such as agricultural waste or CO2 into renewable bioplastics and other bio-based materials.
University of Georgia Collaborating with Norton Point to Make Use of Ocean Plastics
March 2, 2017 | UGA Today
Engineers and polymer scientists with the University of Georgia's New Materials Institute are helping Norton Point, which manufactures sunglasses from post-consumer plastic waste, with testing of its "ocean plastics" products and finding new product applications.
University of Nottingham Opens Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry
March 2, 2017 | Nottingham Post
After having been destroyed by fire in 2014, the center is finally open! It incorporates all the latest developments in sustainable construction and renewable energy provisions to ensure it will have zero impact in terms of carbon over 25 years.
Industry Collaboration Leads to Biomass to Glucose and Lignin Pilot Plant
February 28, 2017 | Biobased World News
The technology converts woody biomass into sugars and lignin. It is particularly suited for making high purity glucose required for the production of a wide range of bio-based chemicals and materials for the chemical industry of tomorrow. The lignin is also an excellent feedstock for renewable bioenergy applications, as its energy content is significantly higher than that of woody biomass.
Polymer Additive Creates Mechanically Tougher Plastic
February 28, 2017 | Cornell Chronicle
Coates’ Research Group at the University of Minnesota has developed a multiblock polymer that, when added in small measure to a mix of polyethylene and polypropylene, creates a new and mechanically tough polymer.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
What’s Up with “Nok”? A Third Generation Designer Surfactant
University of California, Santa Barbara | The Nexus Blog
Although Nok is still rather new to the micellar catalysis scene, it seems to have a bright future in that it provides a cost-effective alternative to TPGS-750-M in general, and can also be the surfactant of choice. To date, it has been purchased by almost 100 different institutions.
Activation and Discovery of Earth-Abundant Metal Catalysts Enabled by Sodium tert-Butoxide
University of Edinburgh | The Nexus Blog
A sustainable future for catalysis relies on the use of first-row, low cost, low toxicity, Earth-abundant metals. Despite this, the metals that are most abundant have yet to be adopted by the global community.
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